Dear Lordstown, The writing was on the wall. Best, Retiring Guy

 

Headlines from top to bottom:

CNBC, 6/27/2023; Market Watch, 7/31/2017 

Middle:  The Verge, 10/19/2020; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 3/5/2021

CNBC excerpt:

In a statement provided to CNBC, Foxconn said it had hoped to continue discussions to reach a solution that would “satisfy all stakeholders” without “resorting to baseless legal actions.” But in light of the litigation and what it characterized as Lordstown’s attempts to “mislead the public,” it is suspending talks and reserving the right to take legal action of its own. 

Lordstown, launched in 2019 with a factory acquired from General Motors and the enthusiastic support of the Trump administration, struck a deal to sell that Ohio factory to Foxconn for $230 million last year. Following the deal, which closed in May 2022, Lordstown and Foxconn agreed to a second deal in which Foxconn would invest up to $170 million in Lordstown, taking a 19.3% stake in the startup.

Other Foxconn and Foxconn/Lordstown posts:

2023

June

It's another Foxconn debacle as Lordstown Motors files for bankruptcy.  (6/27)

Vote of 'no confidence' from Lordstown Motors founder Steve Burns.  (6/22)

InvestsorPlace warns that Lordstown Motors RIDE will crash and burn.  (6/14)

Foxconn goes from Wisconsin bamboozle to Lordstown chicanery.  (6/13)

Lordstown/Foxconn EV debacle on verge of morphing into legal slugfest.  (6/11)

You're in for a bad RIDE with Lordstown Motors according to InvestorPlace.  (6/10)

Foxconn debacle at Lordstown is running on empty.  (6/5)

Foxconn/Lordstown Endurance partnership:  And the hits just keep on coming.  (6/3)

It's all over town, Lordstown's Endurance lacks endurance.  (6/2)

May

The slow drip of bad news out of Lordstown becomes a gusher, part 2.  (5/29)

The slow drip of bad news out of Lordstown becomes a gusher, part 1.  (5/29)

Not making good on a pledge?  It's a Foxconn speciality!  (5/28)

Foxconn/Lordstown Motors deal.  Tick.....tick.....tick..... (5/24)

January

Slow drip of bad news out of Lordstown continues for Foxconn.  (3/19)

2022

Slow drip of bad news out of Lordstown continues.  (5/22)

2021

Four years in, Foxconn still hopes to hit a bullseye.  (10/1)

GET ME REWRITE: Yes, Foxconn's $100 milion pledge to UW-Madison was nothing more than a cynical election ploy by Scott Walker.  (8/11)

The mysteries of Foxconn (season 2).  (5/12)

The collapse of Donald Trump's '8th Wonder of the World'.  (4/20)

2020

Apparently, that's not what Scott Walker heard.  (12/19)
Just wondering what else in this Foxconn op-ed is off the mark.  (11/17)
GET ME REWRITE: Two gullible guys from Racine County still believe anything Foxconn tells them.  (10/23)

Keeping tabs on Foxconn Place in

Eau Claire
Green Bay
Madison
Milwau

kee
Racine

GET ME REWRITE!! GOP leaders continue their extended University of Wisconsin System funding hissy fit

 

Headline:  Wisconsin State Journal, 6/29/2023

Photos:  Wisconsin Senate, Wisconsin  Assembly

Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul, along with school and law enforcement leaders, have been pushing Republicans to increase funding for the state’s school safety office. That office, created by Republicans in 2018, was designed to prevent violence in schools after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. 

The office provides safety grants to Wisconsin schools, maintains a 24/7 tip hotline, offers training and maintains blueprints of school layouts to assist law enforcement when reacting to emergencies. The Legislature’s budget committee voted to cut funding for the office this month, a move that Kaul said would essentially gut it and not allow it to provide all the services it currently does.

Related posts:

June 2023

GOP white men in the Wisconsin state legislature have their own sense of diversity.  (6/22)

Wisconsin GOP punishes hard-working families by refusing to address state's child-care crisis.  (6/22)

Wisconsin Republicans pull the rug out from under hard-working families.  )(6/21/2023)

Wisconsin GOP works to suppress the vote and disenfranchise voters.  (6/20/2021)

The next time the Wisconsin GOP talks about supporting hard-working families, ask them about their lack of support for child care.  (6/17/2023)

See Wisconsin GOP leadership in full flower of racism and misogyny.  (6/13)

Wisconsin GOP leadership puts a pox on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.  (6/11)

Your Wisconsin GOP at work:  Gas-powered machines a top priority.  (6/7)

Bashing public education, promoting discrimination, part 3.  (6/1)

May 2023

Bashing public education, promoting discrimination, part 2.  (5/31)

Bashing public education, promoting discrimination, part 1.  (5/28)

Family leave freakout.  (5/23/2023)

Here's the legacy the "lock-'em-up" prison mentality of Wisconsin's GOP legislative leaders.  (5/23)

Wisconsin GOP legislative leaders show their true colors with efforts to defund campus diversity offices.  (5/21/)

Wisconsin GOP legislative leaders decide transgender athlete ban is top priority.  (5/11)

Wisconsin GOP remain in Dark Ages when it comes to legalization of marijuana.  (5/3)

Local control?  It's the Wisconsin GOP favorite toilet seat!  (5/2)

April 2023

Wisconsin GOP fights crime and inflation with dog whistle legislation.  (4/26)

Wisconsin GOP leadership fights crime and inflation by putting up barriers to health care.  (4/17)

Wisconsin GOP leadership blows on the unemployment benefits dog whistle.  (4/11)

March 2023

Your Wisconsin GOP state legislative leadership at work (transgender assault edition).  (3/26)

Wisconsin GOP leadership remains adamantly opposed to reproductive rights.  (3/22)

Wisconsin GOP leadership promotes a no transparency workplace.  (3/21)

Wisconsin GOP leadership drags its heels on legalization while residents go elsewhere to buy weed.  (3/17)

February 2023

Wisconsin GOP leadership fights crime and inflation by ignoring Black priorities and promoting voter suppression.  (2/15)

Wacky white Wisconsin GOP boys club once against demonstrates its inability to govern.  (2/12)

Time for Wisconsin GOP legislative leadership to step up and ban discriminatory housing covenants.  (2/10)

Spineless Wisconsin GOP leadership unable to build support for medical marijuana.  (2/1)

2022
Wisconsin GOP shows off the diversity of its legislative leadership.  (12/21)

With another heated Wisconsin election around the corner, Republicans delude themselves into thinking they can defuse abortion as an issue.  (12/7)

It took all of 15 seconds for these 6 white guys -- the Wisconsin GOP legislative leadership -- to slam the door on reproductive rights.  (10/4)

Environmental Protection is a low priority for the all-white, all-male Wisconsin GOP leadership.  (10/1)

Wisconsin GOP leadership encourages its political appointees not to play by the rules.  (9/30)

Reproductive rights? Fuggedaboudit! What else would you expect from these Wisconsin GOP Gomers? (8/27)

Meet the 4 lapdog judges on the Wisconsin Supreme Court at the beck and call of the GOP. (7/11)

Distrust of elections? What about contempt for Wisconsin's all-white, all-male GOP leadership?. (3/28)

Apparently, the all-white, all-male Wisconsin GOP leadership must think they're something special.  (3/8)

Madison Plan Commission puts kibosh on development in 400 block of State Street

Photo by Retiring Guy

Headline:  Wisconsin State Journal, 6/28/2023

JD McCormick Properties of Madison had been seeking to raze three, two-story buildings at 428-430, 432-436 and 440-444 State, two of which were built in the late 1800s, next to Lisa Link Peace Park. They were to be replaced by a six-story building with 25 housing units and 6,285 square feet of commercial space in the basement and first floor.  

The Plan Commission on Monday voted unanimously to place McCormick’s request for a demolition permit “on file without prejudice,” meaning it’s denied but the developer can come back anytime with the same proposal and provide more information. It unanimously voted for an “indefinite referral” of McCormick’s request for a conditional use permit for the new structure.

Original 4/4/2022 post, "5-story mixed-use development proposed for 400 block of State Street in Madison WI", starts here.

Photo by Retiring Guy

Headline and rendering:  Wisconsin State Journal, 2/5/2022

JD McCormick Properties is seeking to raze three, two-story buildings at 428-430, 432-436 and 440-444 State St. — two built in the late 1800s — for the new building, which would have a restaurant on the first floor with seating on the second floor overlooking State Street, commercial space in the basement and first floor and 23 to 26 housing units.

The exterior, a mix of modern and classical themes, will be mostly masonry and glass with large amounts of glass facing State Street and adjacent Lisa Link Peace Park at the first-floor level, plans submitted to the city say.

Other State Street posts:

2021

The Pipefitter, State Street Stalwart for nearly 50 years, is going out of business.  (4/23/2021)

2020
Paul's Books.  (6/16/2020)

2019
State Street Stalwarts.  (12/10/2019)
Another empty storefront to appear on State Street in Madison WI.  (5/17/2019)
UPDATE: Boutique or not boutique? That is the question.  (4/8/2019)
UPDATE: Last house standing on State Street: You can't paint it black.  (4/2/2019)
Madison Then and Now: 652 State Street.  (3/5/2019)
This State Street Stalwart is now in its 64th year of business.  (1/1/2019)

2018
Three Dog Night is touring.  (12/26/2018)
No, Warby Parker is not a bookstore whose shelves have yet to be delivered.  (12/26/2018)

2016
A brightly lit, empty restaurant interior.  (1/15/2016)
This restaurant opening is overdue.  (1/15/2016)

2015
Another State Street stalwart is closing its doors for good.  (9/26/2015)
A State Street stalwart closes up shop.  (7/30/2015)
UPDATE:  State Street Stalwarts, 6 years later.  (2/1/2015)

2014
State Street Stalwart Going Out of Business: Shakti (1971-2014).  (1/4/2014)